Four American troops died in three separate attacks north of Baghdad, the US Army said Wednesday. One died in a roadside bombing Wednesday near Adwar, 16 kms south of Tikrit. Two more killed in an indirect fire attack on their base in Tikrit late Tuesday, while a fourth was fatally injured in another bomb attack north of the capital.
22 Iraqi soldiers were kidnapped near the Syrian border on Wednesday. The soldiers, all Shiites from the south, were nabbed by an armed group in Rawa, after they had left their base, said a military source, according to AFP.
At least 10 armed men were also killed Wednesday during a raid by U.S. and Iraqi troops that started the day before in the northern town of Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, police Capt. Amjad Hashim said.
Elsewhere, gunmen killed two industry ministry officials in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad. A police officer was killed and six wounded in clashes between Iraqi police and gunmen in northwest Baghdad.
In another incident, Police Col. Nashwan Hadi was killed in a drive-by-shooting near his home in Mosul. Another officer was shot and killed in eastern Mosul.
A car bomb in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, killed two people. Gunmen also killed a translator at an American base. The father of a police sergeant was gunned down in Baghdad's Sadr City, The AP reported.
Meanwhile, a Sunni politician said Tuesday that two "insurgent" groups were willing to negotiate with the government. The former Cabinet minister said he had established contact with the groups. Former electricity minister, Ayham al-Samarie, told The Associated Press the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of Mujahedeen were prepared to open talks with the Shiite-led government aimed at eventually joining the political process.
